


If love is around

by scotchandwhitelies



Category: Joker (2019)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Drabble, Drabble Collection, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:40:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23909359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scotchandwhitelies/pseuds/scotchandwhitelies
Summary: Being Thomas Wayne's son, it could change his life. And Sophie knows about the world's ugliness enough that her stomach turns at the idea of Arthur meeting Wayne to discuss his potential paternity. She can picture it so clearly. Her darling Arthur, starving for fatherly recognition, clad in his second handed clothes, all open arms and heart perking and affectionate. Then Thomas Wayne in a three piece suit, shirt as white as fresh snow, holding some obnoxious glass of champagne.
Relationships: Sophie Dumond/Arthur Fleck
Kudos: 9





	If love is around

"She was beautiful", Sophie says, loud enough to remind Arthur of her presence but a little low so that she doesn't disturb his peace. They're seated on his mother's bed, surrounded by aged blue cotton, and going over tokens and memories. His inner rainstorm is so powerful she swears she could practically hear him think. 

She knows he always considered his mother's death as an abstract concept, and never planned to outlive her in any capacity. 

Arthur idly strokes the picture with his thumb. Even sepia cannot mask the young girl's freckles and the photograph is a little worn, as if it's been manipulated over and over. 

"Do you think I should burn it ?", he asks bluntly.

They make eye contact. He's drained, still in shock, and she doesn't know how to reach out to him. If only he were a simpler man and cried it out. But he isn't. Has not shed a single tear ever since a gruff doctor announced the news. Sophie can tell it affects him deeply still. He's back to hunching his shoulders, hardly speaks, loses appetite. Spends his restless nights on the sofa. 

"Do you want to ?"

His lips form a tight line. He looks away.

"I don't know."

"Well, I wouldn't if I were you."

Sophie offers her hand then, palm turned upward. Arthur puts the photograph in her hand with a reverence that contrasts with his words.

"I don’t have much memories of my mom in her twenties, you know. This is precious. Seeing our parents before they came to be parents kind of humanizes them, don't you think ? It's like seeing teachers outside of school, living life."

He lingers on the picture, silent and grim, and his presence feels heavy. She doesn't know if she should babble until he opens up or if it's the time to retreat. 

Without any ulterior motive, she flips the picture. Arthur _flinches_.

> _Love your smile_ , TW

Sophie narrows her eyes at the neat and curved handwriting which, in her mind, reeks of complacency and opulence.

Arthur shared about his mother's most beloved fairy tale before, something about Thomas Wayne bursting through the door of their shoddy apartment and helping them escape a life of misery and sickness. Naturally, Sophie never believed a word of it but on the few times she interacted with Penny Fleck, she withheld the impulse to trample on Wayne's name. She doesn't have the slightest sympathy for that kind of man. A wolf in sheep's clothing or a shark, that's what he is, and no amount of charity galas can change her mind. 

She figures the doubt has been gnawing at Arthur's mind for a while. His mother is dead but there's a possibility, as frail as it is, that he still has a parent out there. That his father _exists_.

Understanding dawns. 

"So that's what got you sick all week ?"

Arthur huffs a little sound of relief. Clasps his hands. His voice sounds more hoarse than she's ever heard.

"I-I don't know what to do anymore. It could be a coincidence. Or him being friendly....Anything..."

They both know the compliment doesn't suggest something platonic. But Sophie lets him entertain the idea as her thoughts run wild.

Being Thomas Wayne's son, it could change his life. And Sophie knows about the world's ugliness enough that her stomach turns at the idea of Arthur meeting Wayne to discuss his potential paternity. She can picture it so _clearly_. Her darling Arthur, starving for fatherly recognition, clad in his second handed clothes, all open arms and heart perking and affectionate. Then Thomas Wayne in a three piece suit, shirt as white as fresh snow, holding some obnoxious glass of champagne. Sophie bets he only drinks Cristal. 

This couldn't go well, Wayne discovering he has a mentally ill son and being publicly denounced as a hypocrite and a liar.He's the kind to spend all year preaching the masses about the importance of family values only to turn out being as boring and ordinary as the others.

A married man who cheated on his wife with the help.

The best thing that sort of bastard is able to do is hand Arthur a check in exchange for his silence. But perhaps, the man already _knows_. The idea of him willfully abandoning his child sends Sophie's cells into boiling temper.

She's gone silent so long that Arthur follows.

"I've sent him a letter, you know. About the funeral."

Her chest feels entirely too small for her lungs now. She has to rule over her emotions. She clears her throat.

"You did ?"

He idly waves a hand at the photograph.

"You never know. He might come if he remembers her."

Sophie bites her tongue. If Wayne had any love left for Penny, he would have done something ages ago. In fact, if she sees him the following day at Penny's eulogy, she can't be sure she'll resist the need to throttle him. Arthur has a candor about him. Something fresh and vulnerable that she loves, but in this moment, she only wants to shake him out of his reverie.

"He will come. If it's him, he will", Arthur repeats, for him more than for her.

Sophie flips the image to contemplate Penny again. In that garden, in that dress, wearing a smile more blinding than the finest jewel, she's the perfect portrait of love and innocence. It's not hard to imagine a man trying to seduce her.

"And if he _doesn't_?", she tries, searching for his face.

A shadow crosses his features then, green eyes going bleak. His jaw is set into a sharp line. Sophie knows he's bothered.

She hesitates briefly before running a knuckle down his cheek. 

"Forgive me, love. I'm putting my nose where it doesn't belong."

Arthur shakes his head and slightly leans closer.

"Don't be."

"But it's family matters."

He watches her intently at that, and his lips curve just so, for an infinitely small moment. Finally.

"Yeah. And you're family."

She kisses his shoulder to hide her face. Sighs as his arm curls around her waist so their bodies are pressed tight.

"I'll try to reach him if he doesn't come", he says after a while, when they lay their full bodies on the mattress, staring at the ceiling fan which occasionally makes a broken noise. The sun-rays filtering through blinds are so sharp it's almost obscene. Rain would be more appropriate. The light reveals the swirling of dust high in the air.

Sophie props herself up on her elbow.

"I know you think this is a terrible idea and I'm being way too naive about this", he sighs. She opens her mouth. Shuts it right away.

"Arthur, I don't want you to get hurt, that’s all", she explains, resting a hand on his chest, feeling the way his heart hammers against his ribs, against her fingers. Alive. So alive.

"Whatever happens, I'm gonna be alright."

He sounds so sure she can't help but smile.

"Okay. Hope you know what you're doing."

He grunts in annoyance but hugs her nonetheless. 

Sophie muses about the way they could do this. After all, she's family. They're in this together.

"You have to make him threatened enough that he accepts to do a paternity test. And he's the one who'll pay for it", she muses.

A crease forms between Arthur's brows. Sophie immediately soothes it with her thumb. 

"You really think a man like Wayne can be scared of a man like me ?"

Sophie juts her lip. It does sound ridiculous put that way but rich politicians are _obsessed_ with their image. The reveal of the esteemed Wayne household hiding sordid secrets has the potential to cause mayhem in the press. It could destroy everything Wayne worked for. 

Arthur is a little shocked that's she so cynical about it since he doesn't wish ill on the man at all. He just needs the truth. Some sort of peace of mind to settle the ache of struggling with his identity since childhood. _To know he exists_.

Still, she goes on. Tells him Wayne will probably buy his silence and that, _whatever happens_ , Arthur will need to stand his ground against this behemoth. 

"Okay. I’ll do my best", he huffs against her neck. Then Sophie cradles his face, pecks his eyelids, his cheeks, his nose.

She saves his mouth for last, praying to whatever deity the future won’t deceive her lover’s reverent heart anymore.


End file.
